Volume I Part 19 (2/2)

The nest is neatly made of dry gra.s.ses, and attached to the rushes growing in the water. The eggs are four, pointed, and spotted at the larger end with dull brown and black on a white ground.

98. AGELaeUS FLAVUS (Gm.).

(YELLOW-HEADED MARSH-BIRD.)

+Xanthosomus flavus+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 632 (Buenos Ayres); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 37; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1878, p. 59 (Buenos Ayres); _Doring, Exp. al Rio Negro, Zool._ p. 41 (Carhue); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 134 (Entrerios). +Agelaeus flavus+, _Scl. Cat. B._ xi. p. 346.

_Description._--Black; head and rump, bend of the wing, and body beneath bright yellow; bill and feet black: whole length 67 inches, wing 42, tail 32. _Female_: above brown, slightly striated; eyebrows, rump, and body beneath yellowish; bill and feet brown.

_Hab._ Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

Azara called this bird _Cabeza amarilla_, or Yellow-head. It is found throughout the eastern provinces of the Argentine country, ranging south to about the thirty-sixth degree of lat.i.tude, and is also common in the Banda Oriental.

The dull-plumaged birds are always very much more numerous than the bright-coloured males, though Azara strangely a.s.serts that the s.e.xes are alike. In Buenos Ayres, where it is called ”Naranjo” by the country people in allusion to its orange tints, it is very well known on account of its yellow plumage, which looks so wonderfully brilliant in the suns.h.i.+ne, and its partiality for cultivated districts, where it follows the plough to pick up worms, and frequents the orchard to sing, a.s.sociating with the common Cow-bird and Yellow-breast. It remains all the year, and is very sociable, going in flocks of from twenty to fifty individuals, which when they settle on the trees all sing in concert, pouring out their few peculiar notes with great power and emphasis.

Even in the breeding-season these companies do not always break up, and frequently several pairs have nests near together. The nest is usually built in a cardoon thistle, two or three feet above the ground, and is made of dry gra.s.s. The eggs are four, pointed, white or with a bluish tinge, and speckled irregularly with deep brown, the spots being closer and sometimes confluent at the broad end.

Concerning the plumage of this species Mr. Barrows writes:--”Late in March, 1881, we found this species in large flocks on the Pigue, and it was a beautiful sight to see a hundred or more fluttering about among the snowy plumes of the pampas gra.s.s, and displaying their rich black and yellow dress. Unlike most other birds obtained at that time, their plumage seemed nearly as bright and fresh as in summer.”

99. AGELaeUS RUFICAPILLUS, Vieill.

(RED-HEADED MARSH-BIRD.)

+Agelaeus ruficapillus+, _Scl. Cat. B._ xi. p. 347. +Xanthosomus ruficapillus+, _Scl. et Salv. P. Z. S._ 1869, p. 159 (Buenos Ayres); _iid. Nomencl._ p. 37; _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 602 (Salta, Catamarca). +Chrysomus frontalis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p 492 (Parana).

_Description._--Glossy blue-black; crown of head and middle of throat dark chestnut; bill and legs black: whole length 75 inches, wing 37, tail 29.

_Hab._ Argentina and Paraguay.

The s.e.xes are alike in this species: the crown of the head is rufous, and with this exception the whole plumage a rich glossy blue-black. The beauty of the bird and its delicate, plaintive voice would no doubt make it a favourite with man if he saw more of it, only it lives and breeds in marshes, and does not come near his habitations. The Red-heads are gregarious and migratory. The flock can scarcely be said to break up in the breeding-season, as the birds all make their nests near together in the reeds. The nest is placed about one or two feet above the water, is about six inches in depth, and made of leaves and aquatic gra.s.ses woven together. The eggs are four, pointed, with a white or pale bluish ground, and spotted with black at the larger end.

The song of the Red-head is quite unique in character. It begins with a low, hollow-sounding note, then the voice changes to a clear, sorrowful tone, rising in a rapid succession of short notes, and falling again in longer ones.

After the breeding-season the birds fly about in flocks of two or three hundred individuals, and sing in concert on the trees.

Their chirp has a peculiar metallic sound, and can be imitated by tapping on the edge of a copper bell with the finger-nail.

100. LEISTES SUPERCILIARIS, Bp.

(RED-BREASTED MARSH-BIRD.)

+Leistes superciliaris+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1870, p. 333 (Buenos Ayres); _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 38; _Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 175 (Buenos Ayres); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 602 (Salta); _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 136 (Entrerios); _Scl.

Cat. B._ xi. p. 349. +Trupialis guianensis+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 490 (Banda Oriental).

_Description._--Brownish black; superciliaries pale brown; bend of the wing and body beneath from the chin to the middle of the belly bright scarlet; bill and legs black; length 70 inches, wing 40, tail 25. _Female_ pale brown, above variegated with black, below stained with red on the breast; flanks and lower belly striated with black; tail cinereous brown, with black cross bars.

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